‘Tis the season in Downtown Barrie and on Saturday, Nov. 18, Christmas in the city will be full steam ahead.
The Downtown BIA, the Rotary Club of Barrie and the Barrie Chamber of Commerce were on hand today at Heritage Park for the announcement regarding plans for the annual Santa Claus Parade and Festival of Lights.
The yearly event kicks of the BIA's Noella campaign, While always a busy time for the BIA and despite the construction happening at Memorial Square, there will be very minimal change to the regular plans. BIA Managing Director Craig Stevens notes that the decision a few years ago to combine some of the upcoming holiday season’s kick-off events has made the weekend that more enjoyable.
“The Chamber of Commerce, the BIA, the Rotary Club of Barrie and the City of Barrie have brought three individual events together to make it a real kick-off for the season,” said Stevens. “The tree lighting we are calling the remix because of the square in its current state but that’s a good thing because it’s only going to be even better next year.”
Memorial Square is getting ready for its huge June 2018 face-lift when it becomes a more up-to-date Meridian Place and therefore the actual lighting of the massive tree in that area will be changed to the lighting of many trees and decorations in Heritage Park. The annual fireworks are still happening and Stevens said it will come off as a bigger feel.
“There will be lots of stuff for the kids and families to do while they’re waiting for the parade to come through the downtown, which will lead into the fireworks,” said Stevens. “The City of Barrie puts on a fantastic fireworks display; it’s my favourite anyway because they’re pretty much a finale right at the beginning and its ten minutes of just explosions in the sky which is fun for all.”
The main stage will still be at the bottom of Owen Street with live music beginning at 3:30 p.m. and continuing until Santa Claus hops off his sleigh and stops by for pictures. The Owen and Dunlop Streets section will also host free face-painting and balloon animals with Clarabella the Clown and Friends and free hot chocolate (while supplies last) from Tim Hortons with the donation of a non-perishable food item to the Barrie Food Bank or unwrapped toy for the ROCK 95 and KOOL FM Toy Drive. The Outdoor Holiday Film presented by Tim Hortons this year is the popular 2003 flick Elf and will be shown at the Five Points parkette.
For those who look forward to the countdown and switch being pulled which would usually light up the big tree, the Rotary Club of Barrie has a great substitute as the Festival of Trees will be lit up instead, adding more to the evening and event. John Laking is a director at the RCB and is proud to be part of the event that sees thousands throughout the season take pictures and admire the many bright displays
“We spend about six weekends working on this to light it up and it’s worked well,” said Laking. “We’ve moved around the city and this will be a good home for us but we’re working with the city which is great and appreciated as they bring their bucket truck to help reach the tops of the taller trees for us.”
The Festival of Trees is a fundraiser for the RCB as businesses will sponsor different lighted sections, including some of the fun animated stand-up displays.
The downtown events begin at 3:30 p.m. with the tree-lighting remix and continue throughout the evening until approximately 8 p.m. The Santa Claus Parade starts at 5 p.m. from Lakeshore Drive and Tiffin Street and mobbing along Lakeshore before taking a left on Victoria Street. A right on Bradford Street will take the parade to Dunlop where it will make another right in order to head downtown.
The fireworks over Kempenfelt Bay will start at approximately at 6:25 p.m..
